All Saints Football Club will battle with White Tigers in the final game of the maiden Spires Five-A-Side Football Tournament today at the Stable Football Pitch, Surulere, Lagos.

All Saints defeated ASD Academy by 1-0 at the same venue on Wednesday to get to the final, while White overcame Two ODDs in a thrilling encounter to make the title game.

Two Odds had overturned a 3-1 deficit against White Tigers to level scores, but they fell to the superior penalty skills of White Tigers in th ensuing penalty shoot out after the regular time had ended 3-3.

Today’s final showdown promises to keep fans on the edge of their seats, as both finalists have been receiving tutorials from ex internationals, Friday Elaho and Friday Ekpo respectively.
Speaking on the final game, former chairman, Edo State Football Association, Frank Ilaboya, who was the Special Guest in the semifinals, said the Spires Five-A-Side tourney has raised the bar for street soccer tournaments in Nigeria.

“This is absolutely a new level for street soccer tournament in Nigeria and I must commend Spires Media for making this happen. Tournaments of this nature are all we need to propagate the true essence of grassroots football development in the nation,” Ilaboya added.

On his part, ex international, Friday Elaho, commended the innovation that the organisers brought into the tourney.

“I am excited with the level of innovation I am seeing here,” explains the Algiers ‘90 Nations Cup revelation. Elaho, who mentored the players of All Saints FC and White Tigers FC in their camp, added: “This mentorship aspect is a big innovation in this tournament. I had fun with the players and officials as they were all excited to see me. In fact, most of them were seeing me for the first time and you could see the joy in their faces.

“As I said earlier, I am thrilled with this new dimension the organisers have brought into the game, kudos to them.”

Explaining the programme for the final game, the Director of Protocol for the tournament, Akin Odunsi, said it promises a thrilling final today.

“The final will be nothing short of world class as all the logistics have been put in place”.

“Also, we are happy to announce that all the top dignitaries invited have confirmed their attendance,” he said.

He said that the director general of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, will be the special guest of honour in the final game, which winner will get N5 million, while the losing finalist and third-placed team will pocket N3 million and N1 million respectively.